Lyoto Machida interested in fight with Dan Henderson

With Rashad Evans a win away from earning his long awaited shot at Jon Jones’ title it seems fellow top contender, Dan Henderson, could be left in limbo if things play out as expected. However, at least one 205er has stepped up to say he’s interested in fighting the legendary light heavyweight if that’s the case – Lyoto Machida.

Machida expressed his desire to hook up with “Hendo” in a recent interview where he also reaffirmed the possibility of dropping to middleweight in the near future.

When asked about Henderson in an interview with Sherdog, the 33-year old Brazilian said, “I would be really honored to face him. At 41 years old and competing at such a high level, he’s an example for our sport. The fight he had with ‘Shogun’ (Mauricio Rua) was unbelievable. I think we could have a great fight.”

Machida, currently healing up from elbow surgery, says he plans to be ready to return to training in early February and hopes to fight in April/May. If a bout with Henderson doesn’t work out based on Evans potentially beating Phil Davis this weekend, Machida also has his eye on another top contender in action at UFC on FOX 2.

“Actually, I never had an interest in facing (Chael Sonnen), but he did so much trash talking that I started to have an interest because I’m not the kind of person who likes to say a lot of bad stuff about my opponents,” revealed Machida. “I’d rather fight and see what happens. I think that fight could happen, but that will depend on whether or not he fights Anderson (Silva).”

Sonnen, who has also taken shots at Machida in the media, will earn an opportunity to face rival Silva if he comes away with his hand raised tomorrow night against Michael Bisping. Comparably, “The Dragon” last fought in December where he was submitted by Jones in the second round of their headliner after putting together an excellent first frame against the champ.